Second dose of COVID-19 vaccinations to delay by 4 weeks - GHS

This means that persons who took the first dose of the vaccine when it was rolled out on March 2, 2021 and were supposed to take the second dose some time in April, have another four weeks to take the shot.

This was disclosed by the Director General of the GHS, Dr. Patrick Kuma Aboagye at a press conference in Accra.

Explaining the change in policy, Dr Kuma-Aboagye said data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicated that the best period for the ‘booster dose’ was between eight to 12 weeks.

“WHO has done a lot of studies and it shows that if you do it before the four weeks or before two weeks, there is no benefit; but between two, four, eight and twelve weeks is the best time to do it and even though you would have lost some percentage of the anti-bodies, it’s still enough to protect you.

“The efficacy of one dose is about 76 per cent protection for just about 90 days which coincides with the 12 weeks. Subsequently, they have not done the next stage. A lot of work is being done now and I’m sure when it’s concluded we’ll see how longer the first dose really protects you before you become vulnerable,” he explained.

According to Dr Kuma-Aboagye, about 80 to 94 per cent of the people who have taken the first dose are protected from severe diseases and even death “but that doesn’t mean that a second dose is not important.”

“There’s further data showing that probably you could wait for much longer if it is possible. It doesn’t mean that if you have 28th April on your card, you should by all means receive the second dose on that same day."

“And so, given the vaccine availability that is why we are shifting it to the 12 weeks... Most people who were vaccinated were expected to be vaccinated at earliest April but that gives us the scope to move beyond that time,” he explained.

According to Dr Kuma-Aboagye, government was in talks with the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX) to have the second doses in the country by May.